Warning: The following chapter is PWP, it was just that sort of week

The ocean had been refreshing almost like reverting to back to their carefree hooligan selves of a distant past. The cold water and the sparkle of bright sun on the crashing waves had been rejuvenating. They swam and splashed each other. Eventually when both were chilled to the bone they lounged on the shore soaking up the sun and each other's company talking about trivial things or snoozing intermittingly. Rukia never did get to the book tucked neatly into her purse. The feeling of mutual contentment continued throughout the day in much needed respite.

For once in a long time neither thought about work, or the demands of being responsible adults. No hollow alarms sounded no phone calls, and no other random interruptions. It almost seemed too good to be true. Yet it lasted until the heat of the day began to wane and shadows started to lengthen.

On their return trip home in the evening both noticed a youth with spikey orange hair on a distant street corner. Rukia shortened her stride considerably, as they got closer the boy in the distance turned to glace their way. It was not the substitute soul reaper; it was a street punk with a bad wig and a face as long as a horses. The slightest frown marred her features as they passed.

"It's been bugging me for a while…"

Rukia knew what question might potentially crop up with that preparatory statement and she countered it.

"Have you ever heard the expression don't go looking under rocks if you don't want to know what's underneath them?"

He made a sound of comprehension but forged on ahead anyway, "What's between you and Kurosaki?"

She smiled at him menacingly "What about you and yukari?" it sounded like a warning.

Instinct warred against logic as he tried to discern the relation between the comparisons. Was she simply facing him with an equally difficult subject? Or was she suggesting the relationship between herself and the human boy was the same as his interactions with the former brothel girl? For that matter how did she know about it? As uncomfortable as it might be to unearth either topic he was willing to try for the sake of peace of mind.

"I'll tell if you will" he offered resolutely

Rukia deviated from their route and slowly led them to a grassy slope over-looking the river. She took a seat on the ground and hugged her legs to her chest.

"It's not that simple, I'm not sure I know myself what it is."

He propped an arm on a knee as he took a spot next to her and fixed her with a piercing look
"Try" he encouraged.

"I'll do my best to explain if you agree to tell me why you picked yukari and… what you think is between us" She schooled her features as she said this but her heart beat was erratic while a certain nervousness twisted her insides. When he answered with a serious nod, she demanded a promise which he solemnly yielded to verbally.

She took a few moments to organize her thoughts as the sun began dipping on the horizon to gleam off the water. She thought of Ichigo's brazen individuality, his boisterous family, his ability to get close to people easily. The nature of his rapid development as a fighter was intimidating. His complete lack of romantic inclination and severely bashful nature when it came to women exemplified his youth. His face held a shadow of what sir kaien's features once were. There were so many things to it all. He had lived such a short time and yet now that soul society knew of his raw power it was unlikely he would be left in peace to live the remainder of his years. She felt pity, friendship, pride, occasional jealousy, but most of all platonic affection.

"He has the traits that are ideal in both a comrade and a…" she struggled with finishing the statement and Renji's started feeling like maybe he could have left well enough alone. A sinking feeling was settling in his gut like lead at the possibility of what the next adjective might be.

"Brother" she sighed heavily "In admitting that I mean no slight to Byakuya-sama" she amended quickly and began listing off rapid fire good points of the head of the kuchiki family as if she expected the cold nobleman to be listening from behind a nearby tree. She told him then about the kurosaki family and what they had come to mean to her as a whole. Without prompting or questioning she even delved a bit into describing how she felt about the other humans Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryu, Yasutora Sado, and even the mod soul kon. It seemed the thing that meant most to her with each person was that they did not grovel or tremble in fear at her name, nor did they sneer down their noses at her origins waiting for her to blunder into some unforgivable faux pax. She was allowed for the first time in a long time to just be herself, and be accepted for all of what that entailed quirks included.

"From the way you asked about ichigo, it seems you were under the same misconception as some of his classmates" She stretched as she said it and sprawled into a more comfortable position "Ichigo is precious to me, but not in the way people suggest. Besides it seems when it comes to girls he is not of age" Renji quirked an eyebrow at this "Mentally and emotionally" Rukia clarified to which the former inclined his head in agreement.

"Your turn."

He grunted in agreement trying to think of where to start, "When I got kicked out of 5th division and got placed in the 11th I was told by a lot of people it was a death sentence or a nice way to be swept under the rug. I'm sure you've heard what people say about the 11th whether it was direct or not especially after Zaraki became captain. It was easier in some ways, straight forward, less politics, but it seemed like there was an unspoken code of how a man should behave 'yachiru excluded of course'. They didn't have a code tacked to the wall to spell it out for new members either. I thought it would be like all the rumors that if you could fight, and drink there would be nothing else to worry about."

He plucked blades of grass and tore them lengthwise as she searched his face. "One night everyone was at the usual place drinking, some of the guys liked to gamble or spend time with the girls. The 6th seat came to me and said he wanted to talk about something I followed him when we got to a private room he left and locked the door. She was there; I told her I wasn't interested so she helped pretend by making loud noises. My squad mates felt that I had become a man and didn't bother me about personal shit after that. I went back later to thank her we talked and for a while she was more like a therapist than a prostitute. Eventually she did teach me some things."

He got up and brushed off the maimed plant bits off his lap and kneaded the back of his neck. "How did you learn about it and how much?"

Rukia got up and dusted off beginning to head in the direction of home again. "Does it matter?"

He grabbed her wrist to stall her "It does."

"I couldn't be obvious about keeping track of you. How would it look if people knew that I was hunting after information about you while trying everything I could think of to avoid getting paired up with some elitist? I bribed someone to follow you; I learned her name and the hours in the log book. Look I'm sorry I asked. Can we just drop this?" There was an edge to her voice that she didn't manage to mask as well as she had hoped. She tugged at his grip and he kept a hold.

"I won't apologize for who I was or what I've done because I don't think it will change anything. All of that ended years ago. We may not get many more chances to be able to talk like this so I'd rather have you know everything now and if you need time to think about it that's fine. I never gave up the idea of getting you back, and not just as a friend."

In contradiction to his words he loosened his grip on her wrist giving her the option to pull away if she wanted. He didn't consider putting any restraint or caution into his next statement. In his voice was infused the conviction of decades of waiting and hoping and striving for her sake.

"I want to erase the distance between us."

Violet eyes considered him thoughtfully the old clenching pain in her chest felt placated like it was thawing at the end of a long storm. Guiding his hand she pressed it to her cheek and leaned into the expanse of his palm uncertainly. A heady feeling of hope and purpose was fighting disbelief and he reached out to thread his fingers through her hair with his free hand tipping her face upward and closer to his own. She leaned in eyes fluttering half closed. He couldn't bring himself to go the last ten percent of the space that separated the two of them. She felt his breath fanning against her skin, something inside was screaming at her to dosomething, anything. He was searching her eyes whether it was for permission or something else she wasn't sure. His words were spoken soft and so close to her lips so that she could almost perceive purely by sensation and taste what he said next.

"I want you to know, to understand, and I don't want either of us to be half dead on a battlefield to say it."

'Life is short, for gods sake don't ruin this now jackass!'

Enveloped by warmth, his scent, and the sound of the ocean a girl couldn't ask for a more ideal setting. She breathed his name like a prayer reaching out to trace his arm with her fingertips, her eyelids fluttered closed "Just not in public"

"Fair enough" with this agreement he withdrew with a look on his face like a kicked puppy.

Inwardly berating herself she grabbed the collar of his shirt before the mood could be completely lost she pulled his face back close to her own. She initiated the first kiss soft and fleeting, the type that made you wonder if it had occurred at all with the briefest touch of the mouth. Both mirrored a deer in the headlights expressions at one another clearly wondering 'did that really just happen?'

Renji was the first to snap out of it and a look of triumph stole over his features. Rukia glanced away murmuring in the direction of his chest "What I mean by that is take me somewhere private"
When it came to a kuchiki giving a direct order, it was not something that bared repeating, second guessing, or hesitation; if said order just happened to coincide with one's personal objectives all the better.
Pressing her into an embrace that lifted her off the ground he initiated a series of flash steps that had them in the gardens of their summer home quick enough to make their heads spin, setting her on the porch he slid her sandals from her feet and tossed them aside backing both of them into the guest room. She was tugging at the knot in his headband and the tie for his hair; both came undone and his hair spilled over his shoulders.

He pressed kisses to her brow and the underside of her jaw before claiming her lips teasing with his teeth and tongue. A low hum of pleasure trembled against him as he continued, she was shaking. He still had her lifted against him and he let her ease out of his grip to slide into a kneeling position without relinquishing the kiss. When both had their knees firmly on the tatami mats he lessened the kiss slowly before stopping altogether. He didn't have the benefit of waiting long as she practically leapt at him to resume with renewed fervor. When Rukia came up for air a few things were apparent she was straddling him on the floor, his hands spanned her thighs, her fingers were fisting his hair, and something firm was pressing with intimate warmth against her.

Sitting upright she blushed releasing his hair but didn't extract herself from his lap, removing his hands from their previous exploration of her legs he wrapped his arms around her and exhaled into her hair. As she shifted firmly over his lap he nearly went cross eyed resisting the urge to buck his hips. She moved again experimentally, noting the tensing of his muscles, and a vein that pulsed at his neck.

"Stop" he breathed

"Does it hurt?"

"No"

The niggling demands for caution were whispering somewhere in the back of his mind. He savored the feel of her slight weight braced against his chest, trying to temper patience in with lust that was starting to seethe in his blood. With a look crossed somewhere between curiosity and fierce determination she did it again, he buried his moan in her mouth and cupped her breast thumbing a nipple in response. Rukia gasped and arched into the new feeling. He flipped her onto her back and framed her body with his. His reward for boldness was seeing Rukia speechless, starry eyed, and cherry cheeked.

"That's why"

She reached out to grab an errant length of hair and tugged him forward until she was speaking against his lips "More"

'what else could you need to hear other than that?'

Her other hand had found the hem of his shirt and was working its way up his torso, she was alternating kisses and nips along his neck craning to reach. He dipped down to lave his tongue against hers cradling her head and guiding the angle while bracing on a forearm.

'It would be worth dying for right?'

The thought of his captain eviscerating him for defiling his little sister was doing nothing to calm his ardor. She tasted like sea salt, a mild lavender trace still emanated from her hair; even the hint of sweat had a feminine cast in her scent. She was getting impatient and an inexperienced hand reached for his vitals to massage his groin through the fabric. His eyes flew open and he gave her a look of stark shock. She looked back questioningly and adjusted her hand as if she were trying to figure out a jigsaw puzzle.

"How much is 'more' exactly?"

"All of it"

"Do you have the experience to know what 'all of it' is?"

The look of ire was compounded by a meaningful squeeze to some tender parts of his anatomy. "I'm not a child anymore moron"

Mindful of her grip he couldn't help but feel an ebb in his patience.

"I wasn't sayin' that you were. Now seriously on a scale of one to ten: one being knowing nothing outside the books, ten being that you wrote the book and are working on some new ideas"

She turned away slightly blushing in frustration and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously close to the number two and never mind as she wriggled to get out from underneath him. When he didn't budge he heard her whispering an upper level incantation.

'Oh no you don't'

Weighing his options he kissed her again fiercely to cut off the spell when they were both close to needing air he moved his mouth to her ear and whispered.

"Bakudo one: Sai"

The binding spell worked instantaneously. Oh if looks could kill, he'd be a dead man, the violet lightening sparking from her eyes marked that fact with certainty. Mentioning she looked lovely when utterly pissed was not likely to save him once she got loose. For basic kido of any category spirit density was more important than skill, which was something he was grateful for at the moment given his usual ineptitude with demon magic. Unfortunately sai only binds the limbs it does nothing to keep your opponents mouth shut a fact he overlooked. Rukia smirked in triumph as she finished her incantation and sent Renji rolling quickly off her to avoid squashing her underneath him as his own limbs locked together via a stronger bakudo spell he didn't recognize.

"Woman…" he growled

Rukia rolled and struggled with her binding spell to no avail she didn't have the energy to break her bonds and renji didn't have the skill to undo his. Neither was ready to relinquish the upper hand either. It didn't prevent either from respectively trying to wear down their bonds. Rukia was cursing under her breath in an ear blistering string of obscenities of the like she hadn't indulged in uttering in a verylong time.

"Abarai, Renji you are going to undo this now." She rolled in such a way to face him and fix him with a blazing glare.

"Chill out and be reasonable for a second" He inched over to and nipped her ear for good measure.

Since when had pineapple had become the voice of logic in their dynamic? With a pointed huff she relented "What are you suggesting?"

"Trust me"

"and by that you mean…"

"Let me show you what 'more' is" He proceeded to whisper in graphic detail what that could entail. "Let me go" he coaxed.

Against her better judgment she consented and found herself being whisked in the direction of the shower. Rukia predicted a font of cold water in the immediate future but was pleasantly surprised when the water that did eventually hit them was a pleasantly warm temperature. As articles of clothing were removed and slung with a wet slap to the tile floor he covered every inch of newly exposed skin with caresses. Under his careful ministrations any residue of sand, or ocean water, was lathered in slick soap letting their skin pleasantly slide against each other. He made it a point to keep her pinned above his hip line and she squirmed trying to gain more contact. Reacting to her struggles with a low growl renji lifted her by the ass to brace her thighs over his shoulders and the rest of her against the wall. Hot breath near her core was the only warning before his tongue set to work.

She was biting her lip to keep from eagerly cheering him on; a husky cry escaped her as he gently slipped a finger inside her stroking in time as his tongue swirled against the nub of flesh she kept bucking into his mouth. He was smirking as he teased her, reveling in masculine ego as her body quivered on the verge of release. Not one to be left out he adjusted to take care of his own needs and urged his own peak to coincide with hers. She was chanting his name like a sutra when her muscles clenched around his finger and a musky liquid flowed from her center his own body jerked in response and spilled his own climax onto the wet tiles.

Taking a seat on the bench under the steady stream of water he activated the release of the binding spell on Rukia and arranged her to sit in his lap with her back to his chest. He kissed her shoulder fondly and she sighed in contentment.

"So where am I on the experience scale now" she mused idly

"Hmm, definitely a three at least I'd say"

She slapped his thigh playfully, to which he responded by lightly twisting a nipple between thumb and forefinger. She was too satisfied to bother retaliating. Both finished grooming leisurely and retired to his futon.